


Facing the Fear

by nothingeverlost



Series: Elaborate Lives [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-08
Updated: 2013-06-08
Packaged: 2017-12-14 07:56:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/834521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingeverlost/pseuds/nothingeverlost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I heard Mr. Geppetto tell Professor Hopper that there was a boggart in one of these rooms, sir.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Facing the Fear

"I believe that you are aware, Miss French, that this corridor is out of bounds for students." Belle turned, a wand in her right hand and a book in her left. In ten minutes breaking curfew would also be on her list of crimes.

“Yes, Professor.” Even if she wanted to lie, which she didn’t, she found it impossible to lie to her Dark Arts professor. It was bad enough that he caught her breaking a school rule; to lose his respect would be intolerable. Detention she could handle, but not that.

“I assume you have a reason, dearie. You usually do.” In the dark hallway his black robes hid him almost completely. She could see only his face, hands, and the occasional glint of gold that trimmed his robes. 

“I heard Mr. Geppetto tell Professor Hopper that there was a boggart in one of these rooms, sir.” They might not have seen her, at the time, but she hadn’t been hiding on purpose. There was simply a tiny alcove she favoured in the library that not many people seemed to know about.

“And rather than celebrating the Quidditch victory in your common room with the contraband your fellow Griffindors don’t think we know about you thought you would come down here and face it?” His voice was almost always sarcastic, but she imagined that it was not quite as snide as it usually was. It certainly wasn’t as snide as it had been in class when he’d told Gaston that he might be better off in class with the first years.

“Yes.” She hadn’t dared to wait for a better opportunity. Another day and someone else might have taken care of the boggart.

“Yes?” She had thrown him for a loop, it seemed. It was not the answer he had been expecting. “Perhaps you would like to enlighten me as to why? I’ve read your essays, Miss French. I know that you are aware that it is always better to face a boggart with at least one other person present, and yet you’re here alone.”

“I couldn’t ask anyone else to break the rules.” It had taken some doing to get out of the portrait hole alone, with Gaston trying to convince her to ‘celebrate’ with him. That’s why she was cutting it so close to curfew, and why she’d been in such a hurry that she’d gotten caught.

“Why are you breaking the rules?” he was her professor and had been since she was eleven years old, and yet he did not sound like a professor when he asked the question. He sounded curious, as if the answer served more purpose than a way to decide how much trouble she was in.

“I’ve never faced a boggart before. I needed to know that I could do it.” She raised her chin a little. False bravery, but she hoped the act of pretending that she was brave would help her to actually be brave.

“Needed, Miss French? It’s not on the curriculum, you won’t be be graded on your riddikulus. It’s not even something you will face next year on your N.E.W.T.s

“A boggart becomes what we are most scared of; I need to know that I can face and fight my fears. Please, sir, I’d like to try.” Belle held her book close to her chest. There was no reason, now that he’d caught her, that Professor Rumpelstiltskin should allow her to face the boggart, but if there was one thing that everyone knew it was that you couldn’t predict what the Dark Arts professor would do. She wasn’t sure she was more worried that he would say yes or no.

“What is it that you fear? It helps, to be prepared.” His voice was soft, and though she hadn’t noticed him moving he seemed to be closer. Not for the first time she noticed how warm his brown eyes were, and how gentle he could be.

“That’s what I need to find out. I don’t know what it will be and I...” She took a breath and looked down the hall to the door. Somewhere inside was the boggart. She’d practiced the spell dozens of times and had faith that she could face it. The creature could be defeated. The fear was something else. “It’s coming, isn’t it Professor? At first the whispers barely made it into the walls here at Hogwarts, but now it’s something more. David and Mary Margaret and some of the others, they talk about what they’ll do after they leave. They talk about war.”

Something flashed in his eyes, something dark and frightening that sent a shiver down her spine. For just a moment she had a glimpse of the man, not the professor, and the pain seeped into her pores. “It’s coming.”

“I have to be ready, then. I have to know what shapes the darkness takes, and what I can do to fight it.” He did not lie. Even when the truth hurt she knew that she could trust him not to lie. “Please Professor?”

“I will allow it on the condition that I accompany you. The dark, dearie, is easier when one is not alone.” Without a word he held up his wand, the corridor lighting up with a lumos spell.

“Thank you.”


End file.
